Second Chances
by Brenna
Summary: Jack Crichton gets a second chance.
1. Chapter 1

Title: "Second Chances"  
Author: Brenna  
Rating: PG-13 violence and language  
Archive: Please ask first.  
Summary: Jack Crichton gets a second chance. ANGST!!!  
Disclaimer: Sadly they're not mine and I'm making no money from this story.

* * *

Jack Crichton answered the door to his home to find three very serious looking men standing on the other side.

"Jack Crichton?" the one in front asked.

"Yes," he replied cautiously. 

The man presented him with a badge as he introduced himself, "Tom Jasper. I'm with IASA, sir. I need you to come with us."

"IASA? I'm retired," Jack reminded the man. He'd 'retired' soon after his son John's death during a test of his experimental craft, Farscape One. He hadn't had anything to do with IASA since the end of the accident investigation had cited pilot error and a design flaw in the module as the cause of John's death. Jack would never accept that. He knew a cover-up when he saw one. Who better to pin the blame on than a dead man? 

"Sir, something's landed at Canaveral" Jasper told him. "You've been requested."

"Something...something as in..." Jack asked.

"As in it's not from Earth, sir" Jasper said as he took Jack's arm and led him gently but firmly towards the waiting vehicle. It was only then that Jack noticed the flashing lights of their police escort. "Whoever's inside wants Colonel Jack Crichton, and Colonel Jack Crichton only."

The drive was a short one over to the local mall where a section of the parking lot had been cleared to allow a helicopter to land. Stealth was obviously not a consideration. _'Whatever it was that landed at Canaveral the word must already be out,'_ Jack mused to himself as he watched the helicopter lift off from the mall where a crowd had gathered to watch the unusual spectacle. 

Jasper spent the twenty minute flight to Cape Canaveral briefing Jack. "Four hours ago NORAD tracked a fast approaching object entering Earth's atmosphere," he said. "It was on a direct path to Cape Canaveral. Two high altitude fighters were sent to intercept it. As they approached they began picking up an SOS. Even though IASA is an international agency, the air space around Canaveral belongs to the U.S. The President agreed to let the craft land so the fighters escorted it in. It landed thirty minutes after detection."

"Where?" Jack asked.

"In the middle of the damn parking lot a couple hundred yards from a tour group," Tom told him. "Most of whom had cell phones."

"So it's public" Jack said stating the obvious.

"Totally," Tom agreed. "Whoever's inside will only say your name. There's some sort of energy shield around it that we can't penetrate."

"So you want me to do what?" Jack asked. "Walk up to it and say 'hi'?!"

"Yeah." The expressions on the faces of the IASA personnel on the helicopter with him assured Jack that they weren't joking.

"You're fucking nuts!" Jack shouted over the roar of the aircraft.

"You've done crazier things, sir. Like strap a rocket to your ass for a trip to the moon," Jasper retorted.

By this time they were circling the parking lot of IASA headquarters. It was a fairly small craft Jack noted as the helicopter finally landed. More IASA officials rushed to the helicopter pulling him from his seat and hustling him over to where a tight knot of men and women stood waiting. As soon as he reached them someone was fitting him with a headset before he could voice any objections. At least a half dozen people were shouting instructions to him. Many of them contradicting each other. "Shut up!" Jack shouted. "You want me to do this then just shut up and let me do it my way."

"Colonel Crichton," one officious lout objected but an icy cool look from Jack silenced whatever his objections were.

Once he was wired Jack began the long walk to where the alien craft sat isolated by a cordon of military police. When he was within twenty feet of the craft the hatch at the rear of the craft opened. The being that appeared had to be close to seven feet tall or more. He couldn't be sure, but for some reason, Jack felt he was male. The alien had tentacles on his head and a bright red beard that matched the color of his clothing. He made no attempt to leave his craft. Instead he threw something at Jack's feet. Jack bent down and picked up the small flat object. One of the controls had been marked in a bright red. "I'm going to press this control," he murmured into the microphone then ignored the panicked protests issuing from the earpiece. Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he pressed the button. Immediately the small screen on the device came to life. What he saw made his knees buckle. 

"Colonel!" he heard a voice shout from the device in his ear.

"It's my son," he murmured knowing the microphone he was wearing would pick it up.

_**"I'm sorry you have to see me like this, Dad, but there's not much time left."** _the voice from the recording said._ **"And I'm afraid I'm just about out of other options." ** _Jack tried to take in every detail of the recording as it played. He tried to tell himself that John's injuries weren't as bad as they looked, but he couldn't make himself believe it. _**"It took me a long time to figure out how to get back to Earth,"**_ John said on the recording, _**"and even longer to figure out exactly where Earth was. By then I knew I could never use that information. I'd be endangering Earth."**_ John paused and grimaced in obvious pain. The alien appeared on the recording then taking John's hand and speaking to him in an urgent tone of voice in a language Jack couldn't understand. _**"It's the only way, D'Argo. It's gotta be this way, my friend."**_ D'Argo didn't appear to be happy with John's statement. _**"Please, D'Argo. I...knowing you're going to be there for them," **_John said. _**"I need you to do this for me."**_

Jack frowned at the recording. _'What the hell...'_ he thought to himself. He watched as the alien he now knew as D'Argo nodded reluctant agreement to whatever John was asking of him.

He watched as John sighed on the small screen. _**"D'Argo's agreed to help Earth become a space-faring world,"**_ John said. _**"He's going to be one of a small group I'm sending to Earth. I need you to help them, Dad. Keep them safe. Outta Area 51 and the like. There's a group of worlds out here controlled by something called the Peacekeepers. They make Hitler and his bunch look like the local boy scout troop. They know where Earth is. It'll take them at least sixty years to reach you, but they will come. I've done what I can to slow 'em down, but now you have to get ready. You have to be prepared to defend our world." **_ John sobbed on the small screen. _**"I'm sorry,"**_ he said. _** "They found Earth 'cause of me. Took it from my head," **_he murmured as he began to cough. Jack sobbed himself as he saw the small red flecks appear at the corners of John's mouth. _** "Only one thing left I can do to keep them away from Earth,"**_ he murmured. _** "It's me they wan'. Wormhole tech in m' head. Chased me for yahren...years now. They caught us 'bout three weeken...weeks ago. M' friends rescued us, but too late"**_ John said stroking the hair of the woman in his arms. Jack was pretty sure she was dead. Jack was also bitterly aware of how slurred John's speech was becoming. _**"I'm dyin', Dad" **_he stated. _**"Once I'm gone, D'Argo's goin' t' put our bodies in Aeryn's prowler 'nd set us driftin' near a PK base. 'veryone 'ill be safe then. They'll stop lookin' f'r me. Y'll be safe."**_

"John," Jack moaned.

_**"One m're thing gotta ask ya, Dad"**_ John said he lifted his head to stare more directly at the camera. This was obviously very important to him because when he spoke again he was careful to enunciate his words clearly to make sure he was understood. _**"I need you to finish somethin' for me. You said you regretted not bein' a better father. Being away all the time when I was young,"**_ he said. _**"Consider it a second chance. I love you, Dad,"**_ he said as his eyes drooped. A moment later the rise and fall of his chest stopped and then so did the recording.

"Nooo!!!" Jack sobbed where he knelt on the ground.

"Jack Crichton," he heard a deep rumbling voice say from the direction of the alien craft. 

He looked up to see the imposing alien figure standing in the hatchway. In his arms he held a baby perhaps six months old while two children flanked him on each side. "Consider it a second chance," Jack murmured as he rose and approached the craft and the children he had no doubt were John's. He watched as D'Argo worked some control aboard the vessel. A moment later he was motioning Jack into the ship. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Get him to come out to you," a voice from the headset he was wearing told Jack.

"Are you out of your ever-loving mind?!" Jack swore into the microphone. "My son's dying request was that I protect him and the others with him, and you want me to get him out in the open? So you can do what? Shoot him?"

"Crichton! Do as you're told!" Jasper snarled at Jack through the headset.

"Fuck you, Jasper!" Jack snarled back as he stood and walked towards the craft. "I don't work for IASA anymore." Before they could protest more or get someone out there to stop him, Jack grabbed hold of the rail along the stairs that had extended from the craft and pulled himself inside. Jack paused letting his eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside the craft. As he stood there, he let his gaze wander around the craft taking in as many details as he could though he knew the camera on the headset was recording everything. After a few seconds his attention zeroed in on the large alien seated in what was obviously the pilot's seat. He still held the baby in his arms while the older children were sitting cross-legged at his feet. Two dark haired girls sat beside him on the left. Jack guessed their ages to be somewhere around six and four. On the other side of the chair sat identical toddlers that looked just like their father when he was their age. The twin on the right had his thumb in his mouth. 

"Hello," Jack greeted them all. His eyes met the alien D'argo's as he asked, "I don't suppose you speak English?"

One of the girls giggled. "You're silly," she said. "Daddy speaks English. D'Argo don't talk like Daddy. He's a Luxan! He speaks Luxan." 

"What's your name?" Jack asked suddenly desperate to connect with these children whose names he didn't even know yet but were nevertheless his grandchildren. He held out his arms and the baby was handed to him without protest.

"I'm Xallax Jacqueline Crichton, but Daddy calls me Jackie," his little spokeswoman informed him. She pointed a small finger to the older girl sitting beside her. "She's Zhaan Margaret Crichton, but everybody calls her Zhee'em."

Before she could continue her introductions one of the boys spoke up. "Johnny B!" he said pointing to his chest. Not to be outdone, his twin removed his thumb from his mouth long enough to introduce himself. The thumb was immediately returned as soon as the name Bobby T had left his lips.

"Their names are really John Bilar Crichton and Robert Tauvo Crichton," Xallax corrected glaring seriously at her little brothers. Johnny, the twin whose mouth wasn't already occupied with his thumb, stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation. 

"What's the baby's name?" Jack asked looking down at the child in his arms. The baby rewarded his attention with a wide toothless grin.

"Tha's Deke," Johnny B informed him. 

Jack smiled at the toddler before turning his attention back to Deke. He wondered if John had named his youngest child for his friend DK or for Jack's own friend, Deke Slayton. Either way, he wondered what each man would think of having a half-alien child for his namesake. He smiled at the baby before turning his attention back to the older children. "Well my name's Jack," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

"Are you..." the older girl said hesitantly. When she broke off she turned to look at the alien in the chair. D'Argo smiled at her gently as he nodded encouragement. "Are you our grandpa?"

"Yes, I am" Jack confirmed. "And I'm very very happy to meet you."

Whatever he'd thought her reaction would be, he never could have imagined her bursting into tears and throwing herself into the arms of her alien guardian. It seemed incongruous to Jack to see this walking mountain of an alien comforting such a small child. He had no idea what the Luxan was saying to Zhee'em as she continued to sob, but he could understand the one word she sobbed repeatedly in reply. "Daddy," Zhee'em choked. Her tears subsided slowly as she allowed D'Argo to comfort her.

D'Argo said something Jack couldn't understand as he grabbed a pen-like instrument from where it had been sitting on the console. Xallax pointed to the instrument in D'Argo's hand. "That's translator microbes," the girl said. "They'll make it so you can understand D'Argo. They're safe." 

Jack stared at D'Argo for what seemed like forever then nodded as he presented his arm to the alien.

"Colonel Crichton, this is Director Carson," a new voice told him through the headset. "I have the President for you."

Those words were guaranteed to make any American give pause. "Colonel Crichton," the voice of President Devlin said. Jack stopped as he recognized the voice from television. "Are you sure you want to do this, Colonel?"

Jack paused to consider the question. Politics wasn't a game he enjoyed, but his years at NASA and then IASA had by necessity taught him how to play it. The President could have ordered him to stop. He could have asked him to reconsider, but Devlin hadn't done either. Instead, he'd asked if Jack was sure implying that he agreed with Jack's intentions. However, he also knew the President couldn't say this aloud. "Yes, sir" Jack replied. "I need to know what happened to my son, and Earth needs to know about this threat he spoke of." 

Jack felt the sting of the pen-like instrument as D'Argo pressed it to the bare flesh of his inner elbow.

"Are you alright, Colonel?" Devlin asked through the headset.

"Yeah," Jack replied. "Bit of a head rush, but that's it."

"It will pass in a few microts," D'Argo said startling Jack.

"I understood that!" Jack whispered. "He says it'll pass in a few microts, however long that is."

"Daddy taught me to tell how long a microt was by saying 'one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi'" Zhee'em whispered shyly.

"So a microt's about a second," Jack translated. He cocked his head to the side. "He's right. I already feel better."

"Then let's hear about these peacekeepers shall we?" Devlin suggested.

"What can you tell me about the people John spoke of in the message? The peacekeepers?" Jack asked.

"John often called them Nahzees on pesepee," D'Argo told him.

"Nazis on PCP," Jack corrected absently.

"I hate the Peacekeepers!" Zhee'em suddenly screamed. "I hate them! I hate them!" She flew across the small space between them and pounded her small fists against Jack's chest. With baby Deke in his arms, Jack was unable to defend himself from the unexpected attack.

"Crichton!" Jasper yelled from the headset Jack wore. "Crichton what's going on? Crichton!"

Before Jack could make the demand himself, he heard President Devlin's voice say, "Someone shut that idiot up!" At the same time, Zhee'em was pulled away from him by D'Argo who held the small girl gently but securely in his arms once again whispering to her soothingly.

Jack felt another small body pressed close to his side and looked down to see his other granddaughter looking at him with an expression too solemn and sad for one so young. "The Peacekeepers killed Momma and Daddy," she whispered. "They hurt Zhee'em, too."

"Perhaps we should save discussion of the Peacekeepers until some time when the children are not present," D'Argo suggested. "We must return to Moya soon."

"But..." Jack objected.

"If we left this ship, would they be safe?" D'Argo demanded.

Jack thought about it. His initial feelings were that President Devlin would protect the children, but he had no guarantee of that as of yet. Then he thought of Jasper and the gaggle of others outside this ship and knew what the answer to D'Argo's question was. "No," he admitted.

D'Argo nodded He reached behind him to grab a bag from beneath a console. It was obvious he couldn't get out of the chair in which he sat with the now exhausted body of Zhee'em draped across his chest. The little girl occasionally chuffed out a sob even in her sleep. D'Argo dragged the bag in front of himself then pushed it with his foot over to Jack. "Those are John's journals," he told Jack. "They will tell you most of what you wish to know. I will return tomorrow leaving the children aboard Moya to answer your questions."

As soon as Jack had relayed this information to those listening a cacophony of voices tried to make their opinions known at once. 

"Everyone shut up!" the voice of the commander-in-chief shouted bringing blessed silence. "Tell him we look forward to his return, Colonel."

"Mr. President!" a voice Jack didn't recognize protested.

"You know why politicians kiss babies, general?" Devlin's voice asked. "It's because we know that its an easy way to establish trust and report with the parents. It's pretty obvious the alien, D'Argo, is acting as guardian for the children. He cares deeply for them, and they for him. If we force Colonel Crichton to push for information now to the detriment of the children, we'll damage the trust he's placed in us just by landing on this planet."

"Mr. President," the same hard voice protested again.

"John Crichton's message said it would take these Peacekeepers sixty years to reach us," Devlin reminded the unnamed general. "We have time on our side for now. Let's not screw this up by rushing things. If we want their trust and cooperation, we're going to have to give some of our own."


	3. Chapter 3

When Jack emerged from the small alien ship, there were several men waiting for him a short distance away. One of the men stepped forward to take the bag D'Argo had given him away from Jack. In a hushed tone, Jack warned the man, "Try to take this away from me, and I'll break your hand."

"That won't be necessary, Colonel" a voice from behind the crowd of watching IASA personnel said. Within moments the crowd had parted revealing the President surrounded by his protective detail. Behind them, a line of cars had been parked. As Devlin came forward, Jack was aware that more than a few of the agents looked a little wild-eyed at their protectee being so close to him so soon after leaving an alien ship. Their eyes got even wilder when the President stepped forward and shook his hand. "Your transmission has been going out world-wide," Devlin informed Jack. "I'm having a conference room set up. I can understand that you'd prefer to look through your son's things in private first, but..."

Jack nodded. There was no choice now. The feeding frenzy had already begun, and nothing would stop it now. If they didn't do this publicly the claims of a cover-up would start immediately. The claims would still be made. It would just take the conspiracy nuts longer to form their wacko theories. Jack didn't doubt there would also be those that would claim it was all an elaborate hoax just as they claimed the moon landings had been faked. Better to put the best foot forward they could. Jack allowed himself to be ushered through the once familiar corridors of IASA headquarters to the same conference room in which he'd sat to compose himself after John's accident in the Farscape. Then too, it had been necessary to face the public much sooner than he himself would have preferred.

As soon as Jack placed the bag on the oblong conference table in front of him, President Devlin nodded to IASA Director Aaron Bergen. "Mr. President," the man greeted the President solemnly before turning to Jack himself. "Jack, I'm so sorry about John," Aaron consoled his friend awkwardly. They had worked more than two decades together at NASA and been friends once, but the final incident report on the Farscape accident had ended that. Bergen had been made IASA Director largely due to that report and his role as one of the lead incident investigators. "You were right," Aaron admitted. "Our findings were obviously wrong."

Jack nodded absently not in the mood to play the 'I told you so' game. "Let's find out what did happen," he suggested. It took him a few seconds to figure out the closure on the bag. Inside Jack found more of the small recording devices as well as several bound notebooks and the micro-cassette recorder that John had taken with him on the Farscape. "Most everything's dated," Jack announced as he rummaged through the jumble of items. Finally he located the first micro-cassette and inserted it into the tiny tape recorder. Jack could tell someone, probably John, had modified it at some point to use a power source other than the AA batteries that had obviously long ago gone dead.

"Sir," a hesitant voice interjected before he could press the button that would play the tape. "If you could set it on the table there," a young man Jack didn't recognize asked as he pointed to the microphone placed in the center of the table. He nodded as he did as the young man requested and placed the recorder in front of the microphone. Moments after he'd pressed the play button the sound of his son's voice filled the room telling them how wrong Spielberg and Roddenberry had gotten it.

As he listened, Jack searched through the rest of the bag. One of the IASA flunkies looked for a moment like he would protest, but a glare from the President forced him to subside. Jack was careful with the items nevertheless. He took them out one at a time stacking them in order on the table in front of him, first the tapes, then the alien recording devices. The bound paper journals came next followed by a smaller bag with a note secured to it. The bag intrigued him because though the note was written in English, the handwriting was not his son's. He noted that several of the later journals appeared to have been written in the same handwriting. From the writing in those journals it was not difficult to follow the progress of the writer as he or she learned to write in the Earth language. Jack cursed the fact that he didn't have his reading glasses with him as he squinted to read the note on the bag.

_ John,  
Someday we'll find our way to Earth.   
  
When we do, here's something to give your father.  
All my love,  
  
Aeryn _

Jack picked at the knotted cord that closed the small bag aware that there were now several cameras trained on him and that most of the world was watching, but he didn't really give a damn. As he'd been searching the bag, John's voice on the tape had been describing the companions he'd fallen in with. There was no doubt in his mind that the Aeryn that had written the note was the woman he'd seen lying in his son's arms, his son's wife. Finally, the knots came free, and Jack carefully upended the bag into his hands causing a small gem to fall free. Jack felt the bitter sting of disappointment as he held the gem in the palm of his hand.

"Jesus, would you get a look at that!" a woman whispered. "Is it a diamond? It must be worth a fortune!"

Jack had no interest in jewels however much they might be worth. He wanted some connection with his son! A moment later he was startled to realize he held just that as a hologram appeared in the air above his hand. "Their wedding," he breathed staring at the group with his son and the woman at the center. The two lovers both (oddly enough to Jack) wearing black faced each other. The alien D'Argo stood to John's right and a gray skinned female with short spiky gray hair stood to Aeryn's left. A blue skinned alien garbed all in blue stood in front of the lovers with a hand pressed to each one's temple. There was more in the small cloth bag, Jack realized. As he placed the gem down on the table, the hologram disappeared much to the disappointment of his watchers. Jack reached in and pulled another gem from the bag, and a moment later a new hologram appeared to hover over his hand. This one showed a very pale Aeryn asleep with her head on John's shoulder. The image of John in the hologram slept as well. His cheek rested on the top of his wife's head, and his arms were wrapped around her and the bundle she held. Jack couldn't help but wonder which of his grandchildren slept in his or her mother's arms. One by one he pulled a total of five of the holographic gems from the small cloth bag. All the while, John's voice spewing from the tape recorder on the table told a very different picture than the holographic images. Jack knew he wasn't the only one wondering which one was the truth. Hours later, long after the tapes had ended and they'd switched to the alien recording devices, Jack realized they were both true. Life didn't stop during the bad times, you simply learned to appreciate the good moments all the more.


End file.
